A Different Ball Game
by RoastedPorkchop
Summary: Sawada Tsunayoshi was seventeen when he learned that he had a younger cousin, Kuroko Setsuna, who was coming to stay with the Sawadas for the summer. "I know I don't know her well, Reborn, but my Intuition is telling me that I need to help her. I don't want her to continue to feel as lonely as I was before meeting my Family." Yamamoto Takeshi x fem! Kuroko Tetsuya
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I honestly still have a chapter to update for my Fairy Tail fanfic, but I couldn't get this idea off of my head, lol. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and their respective characters. I only own this fanfic idea. HOWEVER, if there has already been a similar fanfic before, I'm sorry but I was not aware.**

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**1.**

_"I'm sorry, Setsu, but I can't be your light anymore."_

The words still hurt, if she were being perfectly honest, but how could they not make her heart throb painfully whenever she recalled how defeated Daiki had looked, how he had just accepted it as fact. She wished she could ask him to try harder, but she knew that he had tried his hardest to retain that sense of teamwork that had been ruined by his sudden growth in abilities; he had tried his best, unlike the rest of the Generation of Miracles, who didn't seem to find the lack of teamwork disturbing.

Her fingers tightened on the metal pole adjacent to the doors of the train. She could hear the PA system announce that the train was nearing Namimori, her temporary home for the summer (or was it just a place for her to escape the cold gymnasium where the coaches had them run teamwork drills that they weren't putting any effort into? Or maybe it was to convince herself that everything was fine right now and what had happened was just a bad dream she would wake up from once she returned to Tokyo.).

It wasn't a trip she had planned. It was actually her mother who had encouraged her to go to quaint Namimori. Setsuna probably wouldn't have ventured to this small town if it weren't for the fact that her mother's sister, a Sawada Nana, lived here with her son, Tsunayoshi. Sen, Setsuna's mother, had told her that she hadn't kept in contact with her sister, and Setsuna understood that it was because of how busy Sen was with her job as a CEO to a fashion and design company. (That and Nana didn't seem to reply to letters she had sent, so Sen hadn't felt like taking the initiative to contact her sister anymore.) It seemed that when Sen had noticed how down Setsuna had been lately, it had given Sen a reason to try and contact Nana again, and it paid off. Setsuna could remember hearing how happy her mother was to finally be able to talk to her older sister.

The train started to slow down, letting out a screeching sound before announcing that they had arrived at Namimori. Setsuna was pulled away from her musings as she grabbed the handle of her sky blue luggage bag and stepped out of the train.

"Ah, Kuroko Setsuna-chan?"

She blinked in surprise, wondering how anyone had noticed her. A few steps away from her stood a boy with brown, gravity-defying hair. He was definitely a few inches taller than her.

"Yes?" She wondered who the boy was.

"I'm Tsuna. Sawada Tsunayoshi? I'm your cousin," he said sheepishly. "I thought Kaa-san would have told you or Sen-oba-san. Kaa-san couldn't make it since she had to help Lambo, ah, one of the kids at home. He accidentally made a mess in the kitchen, and no one else was there to help clean it up, so she sent me to go instead. HIEE! I'm rambling, I'm sorry!"

Had she been another person, she probably would have been annoyed by it, but Setsuna found her cousin's rambling endearing. She also probably wouldn't have believed his claim of being her cousin so easily, but she could see his resemblance to her Nana-oba-san; her mother had shown her a picture of the woman, but had forgotten to show her a picture of Tsuna.

"It's alright, Tsuna-kun," she gave him a gentle smile. "Please take care of me."

Tsuna just let out a chuckle before holding out a hand. "Would you like me to take your luggage?"

Setsuna was about to politely decline before she felt her shoulders aching slightly. Aside from the luggage, she had brought a backpack with her and had filled it to the brim with books to read so she wouldn't be bored. She probably shouldn't have that much, but reading was something she enjoyed (and it helped her forget about the bad things). So, instead, she gave her cousin a smile and let him take the luggage from her. "Thank you, Tsuna-kun. And you may call me Setsuna. We're cousins, after all."

"Of course, Setsuna-chan," was directed her way with a bright smile before they made their way up.

* * *

It was strange to be led into a limousine. Setsuna couldn't recall her mother mentioning that the Sawadas were rich. As she turned to look at Tsuna with a questioning gaze, he laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry, about this. I guess I forgot to tell some members of the _family_ to go about this normally," he said, and she wondered about his emphasis on the word 'family' as he opened the door for her.

She went inside and Tsuna closed the door for her, walking over to the other side of the limousine to sit next to her. He looked forward to the driver's seat, where a man with a pompadour hat sat comfortably at the wheel.

"Tetsuya-san, did Reborn make you do this?" her cousin asked.

The aforementioned Tetsuya-san chuckled. "I'm afraid so. He did tag along, though."

"HIEEE?!" Tsuna screeched, directing a glare towards the area beside Tetsuya.

It turned out that there was another man sitting there. He had peculiar-looking sideburns and he was wearing a suit and a fedora. "As your advisor, Dame-Tsuna, it's only right to ensure your and your cousin's safety."

"We're in Namimori! Nothing's going to happen."

"I do seem to recall _many things_ happening in Namimori."

"That was _before_! Don't drag Setsuna-chan into this, Reborn."

"Drag me into what exactly?" The teal haired girl had remained quiet throughout the exchanges, comfortable in just watching Tsuna interact with the odd fellows in the limousine. She didn't think they were dangerous; if Tsuna was at ease with them, despite his slight irritation towards the man called Reborn, then that meant they were safe to be around. Still, when she heard her name brought up into the conversation, she couldn't keep her silence.

"You must be Kuroko Setsuna, then? I'm Reborn. I'm Dame-Tsuna's tutor and advisor."

Reborn's words confused her, though. _Weren't tutor and advisor the same things? He was there to teach and guide Tsuna. Why the distinction? Or am I overthinking this? _"…Right. It's nice to meet you, Reborn-san, but you haven't answered my question."

She didn't notice Reborn glancing at Tsuna before replying with, "Into your cousin's exploits."

"I see." No one seemed to be willing to elaborate further, so she took the answer as it was.

Tetsuya began to drive. Setsuna looked out the window and noticed how peaceful Namimori was. She could tell that it was going to be very different from Tokyo, where she was used to the hustle and bustle in the city. _At least,_ she thought, _I won't have to see Daiki and the others yet._

She sighed before resting her head against the window and closing her eyes.

* * *

When he noticed that his cousin had fallen asleep, Tsuna directed a glare at Reborn. "I only just met her, Reborn. I'm not about to drag her into the Famiglia."

"She won't be able to escape from the Mafia now that she's staying with you and your mother," Reborn argued back. "If a spy or any other hitman were to see her with you, they could easily use her as leverage. It would be better to make her aware of the potential dangers of staying here, so that she could learn to defend herself, too."

"I _know_, Reborn," Tsuna eventually sighed, "but… seventeen years of my life I went by knowing I had a cousin in Tokyo, but never being able to meet her because of the loss of contact between our mothers, and then because of the Mafia's intrusion in my life. I just want to be a normal cousin to her for a while. I know I'll have to tell her. I mean, she's staying here for more than _a month_, kami knows what could happen. But…"

"A few days, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn told him, lips pressed together in a thin line. "You can give her a sense of normalcy for a few days before you have to tell her. We're not breaking Omerta, after all. She's your cousin, and though she's not a direct descendant of Primo, she's still a relative, and thus, could be used as a hostage."

Tsuna sighed again but nodded.

"As for the loss of contact between Mama and Kuroko Sen," Reborn started, eyes narrowing in suspicion, "how did that come about?"

Tsuna's eyebrow raised at the question, but his Intuition was also telling him that something _had_ seemed off about the whole thing. "Kaa-san's the older sister of Sen-oba-san, but they weren't very close. Kaa-san said she and Sen-oba-san used to write letters to each other once a month until Sen-oba-san's letters stopped coming. Kaa-san kept writing for a year before she gave up and thought her sister didn't want to talk to her. Imagine her surprise when Sen-oba-san sent a letter again. Maybe the post just got mixed up?"

But even Reborn knew that Tsuna had just wanted to be hopeful. Tsuna didn't want to think that some enemy Famiglia had actually _known_ about the Kurokos and had cut off communication with the Sawadas on purpose.

"I think you already have your own thoughts on that, Dame-Tsuna."

* * *

When Setsuna woke up, the car had just stopped into a modest, two-story house with a cute front yard. "We're here?"

"Yeah," Tsuna replied with a small smile. "Must've been tired from the travel, huh?"

"Just a little," Setsuna responded. "I never had much reason to travel out of Tokyo before."

Tsuna hummed at that and helped her with her luggage, taking it in her hands again. "Kaa-san's probably making dinner right now. You can settle in to your room first before I introduce you to the kids."

"Kids?"

"Ah, Lambo and I-pin. They're like my younger siblings."

_Adopted, then_, Setsuna mused as she walked towards the driver's seat and knocked on the window. The window rolled down and Tetsuya looked at her curiously.

"Did you need something, Kuroko-san?"

"Ah, no, I just wanted to thank you for driving us. I hope I didn't inconvenience you."

"It wasn't an inconvenience at all, Kuroko-san," Tetsuya smiled at her before rolling up the window. After Reborn had exited the car, Tetsuya drove off.

Setsuna then began to follow Tsuna and his tutor inside the house, where the delicious smell of hamburger steak wafted throughout the house. She could also hear childish arguments coming from equally childish voices. She took a small peek in one of the rooms, which turned out to be the kitchen, and she saw a small boy with an afro wearing a cowsuit laughing at a Chinese girl in a red qipao.

"That's Lambo and that's I-pin," Tsuna told her, pointing at the afro boy and the Chinese girl respectively. "Let's head up to your room first."

She followed him to the second floor and went past one door on her right before Tsuna opened the door next to it. Inside was a room with lavender colored walls. The bed had white sheets. Right next to the bed was a window decorated with orchid colored curtains. Directly under the window was a medium-sized white desk with a white rolling desk chair. On the other side of the bed was a bookshelf, and in front of the bed was a row of three cabinets.

"The room is beautiful, Tsuna-kun," Setsuna told him as she took her luggage from him.

"Kaa-san will be happy to know that. She decorated it for you once she was told you really were coming. She always wanted a daughter," Tsuna chuckled. "I'll leave you to your packing. When you're done, just come down to to the living room. It's on the other side of the stairs."

"Alright," and with that, Tsuna left her to do her unpacking.

Setsuna easily hung her clothes inside of the cabinets, which were quite spacious and were also lined with small cubby holes to place folded clothes in. She also placed her books on the bookshelf, assorting them from left to right based on what she would be reading first. She then freshened up and changed into a simple, white summer dress before heading downstairs.

When she arrived, the children weren't arguing anymore, and were instead playing with some Lego. Tsuna, upon noticing her arrival, quickly called the kids over.

"Lambo, I-pin, I want you to meet Kuroko Setsuna-chan. She's my cousin. Treat her well, okay?"

At his words, the two children curiously looked at Setsuna. It was I-pin who first approached her and held her hand, saying, "Setsuna-onee-san?"

Setsuna was surprised at how she had been quickly accepted by I-pin, and after glancing at Tsuna, who gave her an encouraging nod, she smiled at I-pin. "Yes. It's nice to meet you, I-pin-chan."

"I'm Lambo-sama! You can be my other slave!" Lambo cheered before Setsuna smiled at him, too.

"I'm afraid I won't be a very good slave, Lambo. Perhaps we can be partners-in-crime, instead?"

Lambo seemed to consider her words before nodding. "Okay. Setsuna-nee can be Lambo-sama's accomplice."

Before the kids could rope her into playing with them, Tsuna had quickly excused both himself and Setsuna so that he could introduce her to Nana. Setsuna followed Tsuna to the kitchen, where she saw the woman in the pictures her mother had shown to her.

The pictures didn't do her justice.

Sawada Nana was beautiful. Her hair was perfectly in place, tied neatly into a bun. Her warm brown eyes were inviting and her smile was very gentle. She reminded Setsuna of Sen.

"Ara, is this Setsuna-chan?" Nana smiled as she lowered the heat on the stove and approached the girl, who she quickly enveloped into a hug. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Nana-oba-san," Setsuna said shyly. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

"Don't worry about that, Setsuna-chan!" Nana giggled. "I would love to get to know my niece, and I might even let Tsu-kun stay over at your place next time."

Setsuna liked how accepting Nana was. They had just met but the woman had already treated her as if they had known each other for years, and Setsuna liked that she was starting to become comfortable in Namimori. She had worried that Nana would have been inconvenienced by her at some point, but the woman seemed like the type to take care of those under her care.

Setsuna decided that she liked her aunt.

"Let's go eat now, hmm? Tsu-kun, could you set the table for me, please?" Nana told her son before returning to what she had been cooking.

"Hai," was Tsuna's answer as he started getting plates and utensils for everyone.

Setsuna hurried over and took some of the utensils from Tsuna. "I'll help."

Tsuna graced her with a thankful smile as they began to quietly set the table.

_I could get used to life here_, Setsuna mused as everyone gathered around the table to eat.

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**A/N: I really hope I got the characters' personalities correctly :c Setsuna, though, won't really act like the male Kuroko. She'd still be quiet and polite, though, but I'd like to think that Setsuna would still be the type to speak her mind, especially when it came to concerns involving her. I'd also like Setsuna to be a little more confident about herself. AND please don't be afraid to point out any errors I may have made (just please don't be rude about it lmao).**

**Cover photo from: reborn . fandom wiki/ Takeshi_Yamamoto**

**A N D **

**A/N (June 10): I initially made an error when I posted this chapter. I said that Setsuna was a descendant of Primo, lmao, my mistake. She's _not_, since she's related to Tsuna through Nana, not Iemitsu. Thank you, Lynchin, for pointing out my mistake.**

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**Possible FAQs**

**1\. What exactly is the timeline of this story? **In this story, the Representative Battle of the Rainbow is done. Tsuna's about to start his first year in high school. As for Setsuna, she's just finished Teiko and is about to start in Seirin after the summer. I'm not sure how Japanese schools work exactly, but I'd like to pattern it after what I know (school year starting after summer).

**2\. Why 'Setsuna'? **I didn't want Kuroko Tetsuya's female version to still have a 'Tetsu' in the name, and I think Setsuna is a pretty name. PLUS, it _totally_ fits with how she and Tsuna are cousins, since they'd both have 'tsu' in it. Furthermore, Kusakabe Tetsuya. I wouldn't want to confuse the 'Tetsu' in their names.

**3\. Why is Tsuna acting casually with Setsuna?** I'd like to think his Intuition is telling him it's okay to do so, although I'll probably tackle this in the next chapter. Plus, it's a relative he hasn't met before. He may have been a shy middle schooler, but Tsuna in this fic is more confident.

**4\. Why Yamamoto Takeshi? **I always thought that a female Kuroko would probably go well with someone calm but passionate about their sport: like Yamamoto Takeshi. He'd also be cheerful enough to counter Setsu's stoicism.

**5\. Will this follow the Kuroko no Basuke timeline? **Most likely, yes, _but_ I'm going to be prioritizing Setsuna's relationships with the Vongola Famiglia's members since she's going to be staying with the Sawadas for around 40 days (since, according to Google, summer breaks in Japan typically last that long).

**6\. History between Aomine and Kuroko?** Yes, they had some history, but all will be explained in due time.

**7\. Will anyone from Vongola attend Seirin?** Still wondering about this but probably not.

**8\. Will Setsuna have Flames?** Yes, but I'm not telling yet hehe. She _will_ have a secondary Flame, though.

**9\. How often will I update this?** That is a question I can't answer since I write when I have the time + motivation to write, but to be safe, expect slow updates, like once a month.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: 38 follows and 61 favorites in just one chapter? That's pretty crazy. Thank you so much for the support! I didn't think many people would still read such crossovers, much less read ****_my _****crossover idea, so I'm really happy right now hehe**

**Replies to reviews can be found down below!**

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**2.**

Setsuna wondered why her low presence had not affected Kusakabe, Reborn, and her family. Were people in Namimori wired differently, or was her misdirection failing her? She hoped it wasn't the latter. If it was, then she was even more useless now.

_"You are not needed for this match, Setsuna."_

She winced, pulling her knees closer to her chest as she resumed staring out of the window. It was a bright, sunny day today, a stark contrast to how she was feeling right now.

She was disappointed that she hadn't realized it sooner, that Tsuna had easily spotted her in the crowd when it should have been difficult for another person to find her. How was it so easy to him? Kusakabe had noticed her, too, when she boarded the limousine, and Reborn, Nana, and the kids had no issue with seeing her either.

_"Maybe he was right. Maybe I **am** useless," _Setsuna bitterly thought to herself. Maybe her decision to quit the basketball team had been a good thing. If her misdirection wasn't effective anymore -

Her thoughts were interrupted by three soft knocks on her door. She whipped her head around to see her door opening slightly, with Tsuna's face popping out after.

"Hi, Setsu-chan," Tsuna smiled gently at her. "Would you like to accompany me around Namimori today? I have to buy some snacks for Lambo and I-Pin, but I figured I could show you around, too, while I'm at it."

Setsuna smiled back at him, standing up and smoothing over the grey sweater she had been wearing. "I would love to."

After saying their goodbyes to Nana and the kids, Tsuna took her on a tour around Namimori. The route they were taking had few people in it, and Setsuna was grateful for it; the relative silence allowed her to think.

Why was her misdirection ineffective all of the sudden? She had had a low presence all her life, and she always surprised people whenever she started to speak because they never realized that she had been there in the first place. Even the Miracles had moments where they hadn't seen her.

What made Tsuna and the others see her so well?

"- and this is the library. I haven't been here much, but it's a nice place to go to if you've finished the books you brought along with you," Tsuna told her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

It appeared that they were passing by a moderately-sized building with a lot of windows.

"It would be nice. I think I'll be done with the books within the week, to be honest," Setsuna said, causing Tsuna to chuckle.

"It's amazing how you can read so much. The only books I can finish in one sitting are manga."

"They're still quality pieces of literature. They just happen to have more drawings than words," Setsuna shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"You'd be the first to say that," Tsuna grumbled half-heartedly. "Reborn always nags at me to read up on 'educational' things."

"Reborn-san must not be the kind of person to appreciate something meant for younger audiences."

Her response caused Tsuna to snort.

"Better not say that near him," he warned her. She didn't understand what he had meant by that. Surely, Reborn wasn't the kind of person to get mad at a joke? She supposed she wouldn't get her answer anytime soon though, as Tsuna hadn't offered any more information on the matter.

They had reached the supermarket a few moments later, and Tsuna quickly grabbed a shopping cart. They walked down the aisles, placing items inside based on a grocery list Tsuna had bought with him.

"Okay, so now we need some powdered milk and- _five boxes of instant coffee powder_?! Reborn's nuts!" Tsuna complained but placed five boxes of instant coffee powder in the cart anyways. "He better be paying for this with his own money."

"Reborn-san lives in the house, too?" Setsuna asked, a little confused she didn't recall seeing the older man last night.

Tsuna shook his head. "No, not really. He's my tutor, but he lives somewhere else. It's just that he's usually at the house for long periods of time, so Kaa-san treats him like family, too."

"Nana-oba-san is very kind."

"A little _too _kind," Tsuna rolled his eyes playfully. "Still, Reborn must be seriously craving for an espresso substitute. The ones he usually buys are only found abroad, and I guess he finally ran out his stock."

Tsuna shook his head before pushing the cart forward again, and Setsuna was amused by the thought that Tsuna seemed to see his tutor as some sort of older sibling, or an uncle. It was just her opinion, but she found it endearing.

After crossing out everything in the list, Tsuna turned to look at her. "Want anything?"

Setsuna blinked. She hadn't brought any money with her. She was about to politely refuse until Tsuna said, "You don't have to worry about the costs. You're family."

Setsuna slowly nodded, her refusal dying down as she excused herself to return to the pocky section. She grabbed two boxes of vanilla-flavored pocky before hurrying back to Tsuna, who was already lining up by Cashier 2.

"You done?" Tsuna asked, and Setsuna nodded her head, gently placing her boxes of pocky inside the shopping cart.

"I'll pay you back when we get home."

"No need, Setsu-chan. I told you, you're family," Tsuna insisted, pushing the cart forward once the old lady in front of them in line left with her purchases. Tsuna placed the items on the counter, and the middle-aged cashier lady scanned the tags of the items.

Once the cashier lady rang up the total, Tsuna brought out an orange-colored wallet, handing the cashier lady the exact amount of money before being handed a receipt. After the items were packed into boxes, the cashier lady watched as Tsuna and Setsuna grabbed the boxes, only for the lady to shriek in surprise afterwards.

Tsuna and Setsuna looked curiously at the cashier lady.

"For a moment there, I thought the box was- I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there," the cashier lady apologized to Setsuna.

Setsuna was surprised but was able to reply with a "It's fine" before she and Tsuna left the supermarket.

"She was a little odd, wasn't she? You're not exactly hard to miss," Tsuna told her. "I'm sure she didn't mean anything bad by it, Setsu-chan."

But that wasn't the point. Not at all.

While Setsuna appreciated Tsuna's effort to try and comfort her, she was rather puzzled. Was her misdirection working again? But if it was, why wasn't it working on Tsuna?

'You're not exactly hard to miss', he had said, but why? Why could he see her so well?

"Are you upset?" Tsuna asked her worriedly.

Setsuna shook her head. "No, I'm not."

Tsuna looked at her as if he knew she was lying, but nodded and decided to take her word for it.

* * *

The boxes were a little heavy, and they had grown heavier throughout their trek back to the house. Tsuna decided to take her to a nearby playground for a break. Setsuna was thankful for the break, placing the boxes down on the grass beside her as she sat down on a blue, plastic swing.

Tsuna sat on the swing next to her, kicking the ground gently to make his swing slowly move forward and backward.

"This playground's pretty close to my high school," Tsuna shared. "I always pass by this area with my friends after school. It's a good place to relax."

"What's your school like?" Setsuna asked curiously.

"It's honestly just like middle school but with longer class hours, stricter academic requirements, and even stricter teachers, but it's alright. The teachers are fair, so I haven't found difficulties in my classes aside from Math."

"Your weakest subject?"

"In a sense," Tsuna frowned. "When I was in middle school, my Math teacher used to pick on me since I was a pretty bad student at the time. Most information slipped my mind a lot, and I had concentration problems when it came to schoolwork. Anyways, my teacher gave me tests containing advanced material that wasn't taught in class, but I couldn't tell anyone since it was the word of a failing student against a respected teacher's. I doubt my classmates knew about the content of my tests, but at the time, most wouldn't have tried to defend me anyway.

It changed when me and a friend, Hayato-kun, almost got expelled. Story for another time, but we basically had to search for a time capsule buried somewhere in the school to avoid being expelled. We eventually found one, and it was amusing because it was my _teacher's _time capsule from when he was a student. And inside? All failing marks.

Long story short, we exposed him for the fraud he was and my Math skills got better when he was replaced with a competent teacher. I'm still at a disadvantage, though, so my friends offered to help me catch up. I'm still in the process of doing so, though I'm almost done."

Setsuna nodded, absorbing the information. She wanted to send an Ignite Pass to his teacher's face for the bullying he had committed. If Tsuna was a failing student at the time, he should have tried to _help _him out, not worsen the situation.

She hadn't spoken in a while, causing Tsuna to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry. I was rambling. That was probably too much information."

Setsuna shook her head. "You weren't rambling. It's nice to get to know you more, too. I'm sorry if my silence made you feel bad. I was just thinking of punching your middle school Math teacher."

Well, the Ignite Pass wasn't exactly a punch, but she wasn't in the mood to talk about anything related to basketball right now.

Tsuna smiled at her. "The sentiment is appreciated, but you don't have to. His reputation's already ruined, anyways."

"He did long-term damage."

"And I'm getting better. That's what matters."

Setsuna wondered how Tsuna could be so forgiving.

_"Haha, sorry, Kurokocchi, but I don't really feel like going to practice anymore."_

_"Leave them be, Setsuna. They don't need to."_

_"I don't know, Setsu. What's the point in practicing, anyways?"_

_"Eh, but, Setsu-chin, why waste time doing something unnecessary?"_

She wondered if she could be as forgiving as he was.

* * *

She had never been lonely as a child. She had her parents and her grandparents to entertain her never-ending questions on the books she had read, and she also had Shige-kun to be a pseudo-sibling, but Setsuna couldn't help but wonder about what could have been had she met Tsuna earlier.

When they had walked home after staying in the playground for a few minutes, Tsuna had been telling her funny stories about him and his friends, Hayato and Takeshi. The things they had done in middle school were so ridiculous that Setsuna couldn't help but laugh softly. Tsuna seemed pleased with her reaction, and saw it as incentive to tell even more ridiculous stories about him, his friends, and a group of odd people involving frog hats, feathers, and umbrellas.

They probably looked like close friends as they walked down the street, and Setsuna wished she had met him sooner. He made her feel content.

All the what-ifs were plaguing her mind as they walked back, but those were pushed aside when another amusing story made her laugh once more.

* * *

**A/N: And that's it for now :3 I hope you liked the chapter, though I admit it's a little shorter than planned :c**

**Also, I don't want to rush the whole romance part of the story. I want to make Setsuna build relationships with some characters first before meeting Takeshi. Hope that's okay.**

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**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**rozielrie: As of the moment, those are the Flames I'm partial to at the moment, though I'm still deciding which one will be the main Flame. :) Still subject to changes though**

**Beasttamer99: Thank you! I haven't planned as far as Seirin Arc yet, but I will definitely take your suggestion into consideration :)**

**Lynchin: Thank you again for pointing out my mistake hehe :)**

**wildman9002: It's a potential Flame for her! But I haven't quite settled on a decision yet :)**

**Guest (Jun 19): Potentially yes! And there's a reason why they noticed her already though :)**

**Shadowing: Thank you so much! That's nice to hear :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello! I'm back with a new chapter! I wanted to upload this a few days ago, but I only just finished it now because I've been trying to get used to college life. The academics are fun, though. My problem is the socializing :( I'm not used to talking to the girls in my classes since I'm so used to having guy friends. I don't think we'd vibe well :( but I hope that it's just because school just started because they seem like nice friends to have. Mini rant over lol.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and their respective characters. I only own this fanfic idea. HOWEVER, if there has already been a similar fanfic before, I'm sorry but I was not aware.**

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**3.**

Sawada Tsunayoshi was rarely forgetful once he started high school, so he was surprised when he opened his book bag to find that he had forgotten his notebook at home. He silently cursed before nervously glancing at his groupmates. Ichinose Akira was finishing up two more questions that had been assigned to him, while Ichinose Fuyuka and Takeda Mai were checking each others' works.

Mai looked up at him once she noticed his gaze. "Is something wrong, Sawada?"

Tsuna scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Takeda-san, but I seem to have left my answers at home."

Mai raised an eyebrow. "That's not an excuse for not doing your part, Sawada."

Tsuna almost scowled at her. Takeda Mai had been his classmate in Namimori Middle, and she never seemed to move on from his Dame Tsuna phase; she was stuck in believing that Dame Tsuna didn't grow up.

Thankfully, Fuyuka spoke up. "Mai-chan, don't be so mean. Sawada-kun did his part. He even showed me some of what he did because he wanted to compare answers."

"It's a long walk back to his house, if I'm not mistaken," Mai insisted. "How irresponsible can you get? You should've double checked your bag's contents before leaving. Once a dame, always a dame, I see."

It took some of Tsuna's self-control to stop himself from glaring at Mai. He could honestly just tell her to buzz off so that he could retrieve his notebook of answers himself, but Reborn always told him to save face when it comes to regular citizens.

Sighing, he brought out his cellphone and headed over to his contacts. Once he found Setsuna's name, he dialled her number and pressed his phone to his right ear. After two rings, Setsuna had picked up.

_"Hello?"_

"Hi, Setsu-chan. Sorry to disturb you, but I kind of need to ask you for a favor."

_"What do you need me to do, Tsuna-kun?"_

"Can you go in my room and get the notebook on my desk? I need it for my group project, and I accidentally forgot it at home. I think. I just need to know if it's there," Tsuna told her, and it would honestly suck if it wasn't in his room. That meant he would have to retrace his steps in an effort to find it, so he hoped that wasn't the case.

_"Alright."_

He could hear her get up from her bed and walk towards his room. He felt a little guilty for disturbing her. When he had said goodbye to her this morning, she told him that she had decided to spend her day reading his mother's cookbooks; from the little he knew of her, he did know that reading was her 'me' time.

_"Yes. It's here. The one with the orange tuna fish sticker?"_

"Yes, that one," Tsuna breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thanks a lot, Setsuna-chan. I'll be by in a bit to come get it."

_"I can just bring it to you. Where are you?"_

"What? No!" Tsuna exclaimed guiltily. "It's really fine, Setsuna-chan. You don't have to."

_"I know, but I want to. I'd like to walk around Namimori as well, test my sense of direction and all. Besides, you showed me around yesterday. I'm sure some places will be familiar to me. That and I do need to stretch my legs. If anything, you'd be doing _**_me_**_ the favor."_

Tsuna glanced at his groupmates as Setsuna spoke, and he found Mai glaring at him. He sighed. "Okay, I'll take you up on that, Setsuna-chan. I'm sorry to disturb you."

_"It's no problem at all, Tsuna-kun. Please text me your location and some landmarks. I'll see you in a bit, then."_

* * *

Walking around Namimori wasn't very hard for her. She still remembered the paths she and Tsuna had taken before, so the familiar sights allowed to her to become comfortable as she tried to navigate her way to the restaurant that Tsuna and his classmates were in.

As much as Setsuna loved reading Nana's cookbooks, a small part of her still wasn't used to just staying at home. She still craved the early morning jogs that she had done back in Tokyo, her warm-up for basketball practice in the afternoons. This had led her to offer to bring Tsuna's notebook for him.

After a few minutes of walking, Setsuna stopped near a cake shop and brought out her phone. She reread Tsuna's text, which contained some instructions on how to reach the place where he was at. She frowned slightly when she realized that he had not mentioned a cake shop at all. Was she lost?

She looked around, hoping to find someone who could point her in the right direction, but no one seemed to be passing her way. She sighed, pocketing her phone before crossing towards the next street and taking a right. As she walked, she noticed a white-haired boy jogging towards her, and she thanked her luck.

"Excuse me?" she called out to the boy.

He stopped in his tracks and wiped the light sweat that had accumulated on his forehead before he gazed at her. It must have been a trick of the light, but for a moment there, she thought he had been glaring at her.

"Did you need something to the extreme?"

It was a rather curious… verbal tick? catchphrase? but Setsuna didn't really mind it. She had more important things to worry about. "Yes. Could you please point me in the direction of this area?" She brought out her phone for him to inspect the text.

"I know the place to the extreme! I can bring you there," he offered with a grin. "'Tsuna'?"

Setsuna blinked in surprise. "Ah, yes. Sawada Tsunayoshi. He's my cousin. Would you happen to know him?"

"You're Sawada's cousin? It's extremely nice to meet you!" his grin widened. "I'm Sasagawa Ryohei."

"Kuroko Setsuna. It's nice to meet you," she said, bowing slightly before straightening. "I'm actually supposed to go drop something off for him at that restaurant."

"How extreme of you! Let's go then," he said before jogging forward. Setsuna blinked before jogging after him.

* * *

Tsuna tried not to look irritated when he noticed Mai tapping on her watch with impatience. He understood that it really was his fault for forgetting his notebook at home — which was honestly rather strange since he was sure he hadn't forgotten it — but she didn't have to be so rude about it. (That and it wasn't like they needed his answers. He knew his groupmates were all very proficient at Math. If anything, he was sure she just wanted to see that he could actually do something with her very own eyes. It's not like she had ever trusted him, even before, with any group work.)

"Well, Sawada, it seems like—" Mai began before stopping and squeaking in surprise.

Tsuna blinked and followed Mai's line of sight to his orange notebook which was held in front of his chest. He looked beside him to see Setsuna standing there, looking at Mai with barely concealed disdain.

"This is the notebook you were looking for, right, Tsuna-kun?" she asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for getting it, Setsuna-chan."

"You need your girlfriend to come and get your things for you?" Mai scoffed. "That's a new level of laziness, Sawada. I don't know how you even graduated from middle school."

"If you'll look at his notebook, you'll find that he's answered everything you've asked him to," Setsuna told her with a hard voice, one that Tsuna was surprised could come from his normally soft-spoken cousin. Then again, it had only been a few days. It wasn't like he expected to be able to get to know her very well. "And I'm not his girlfriend."

"We're cousins," Tsuna added before flipping the notebook open and displaying his solutions and answers to his other groupmates, who were quietly watching the spectacle in front of them with curiosity. "See? All in my own handwriting."

"And how do we know she didn't just answer it for you and you copied her solutions?" Mai glowered at them, and Tsuna clenched his jaw before responding.

"You can give me a random question right now that's related to our topic. I'll answer it in front of you."

"Very well, then," Mai said before grabbing his notebook from his hands and opening it to a blank page. She scribbled a question on it before shoving it back towards his side of the table. "Answer it now, _Dame Tsuna_. And I want you to be done quickly. You've already wasted our time by making us wait for your notebook."

Tsuna nodded before glancing at the problem. It was actually pretty simple, if you weren't discouraged by how complicated it looked at first glance. As he answered the question, he heard Setsuna tell Mai, "It wasn't Tsuna who made you wait. It was me, so I'm sorry I took a while to get here."

"He shouldn't have forgotten his notebook, then."

"But has this happened often?"

Surprisingly, it was Fuyuka who replied with, "No. This was the first time… in high school, at least."

"So _you_ were judging him based on how he was in middle school. Is that why you were calling him 'Dame'?"

Thankfully, Tsuna had finished the question, so he quickly interjected with, "I'm done." He didn't like that Mai had kept calling him Dame, but it was something that he had gotten used to hearing, even from Reborn (although the hitman had cut down on that over the years). Still, he didn't like that Setsuna had heard it, and although he knew she wouldn't ask questions, she would find out eventually. He wasn't sure if he was ready for her to know about how he had been like. He was rather embarrassed — _ashamed? _— by it.

Fortunately, the girls had ended their conversation there and Mai grabbed the notebook back and glanced over his solution and answer before frowning. "It seems you've actually become competent at schoolwork, Dame Tsuna. Alright. You're free to go. Since your answer checks out with mine and Fuyuka-chan's. then you have nothing more to contribute."

_Gee, thanks._ Tsuna rolled his eyes in his mind. Outwardly, he remained serene. "Alright, then. See you all in school."

Only Akira and Fuyuka returned his wave. Mai ignored him, but it wasn't like he minded.

Tsuna then glanced at Setsuna, who had been watching on the sidelines. She was frowning.

_She probably wants to talk to that Takeda girl. That's probably not a good idea right now. _He agreed with the Intuition. "Let's go, Setsuna-chan."

"…Okay." He noticed her hesitance, but he trusted his Intuition.

He led her out of the restaurant and they began to walk home. "I take it you remembered the main roads, then?"

"Yes. I wasn't sure how to get here, though. It was a good thing your friend found me. A Sasagawa Ryohei?"

Tsuna looked at her with surprise. "Onii-san? You met him on the way here, huh?"

Setsuna nodded. "He brought me here actually. He wasn't able to stay though. Said something about a boxing practice."

Tsuna hummed. He was sure Ryohei didn't have practice today, so maybe he was doing some special _extreme_ training again. He wouldn't be surprised about that; Ryohei was practically obsessed with boxing, after all. "But thank you. Really. For bringing the notebook."

"I told you. You were helping _me_. So thank you for letting me bring it," Setsuna told him.

"It's no problem, then," he beamed at her.

* * *

Reborn frowned. The whole situation was looking too fishy for him. This was something he couldn't just dismiss or deem as unimportant because it involved his student and his student's family, so all the more reason to consider all the possibilities.

His first thoughts were that another enemy of the Vongola would be the culprit. Vongola had been around for many years and had accumulated as many enemies as they had allies. Still, for it to be an enemy of the Vongola, information must have leaked about Iemitsu's family years back. Such information should also have included data on Nana's family. So, not only were they dealing with an enemy outside of the Vongola, but they were also dealing with a possible spy within Vongola itself.

He also considered that perhaps Kuroko Sen and Sawada Nana had simply lost touch over the years. Perhaps their mail really did get mixed up, as suggested by Tsuna a few days back. Still, that also left the possibility that it had been mixed up _on purpose_, and this also brought him back to his initial thoughts.

Reborn sighed before taking a sip from his espresso. _And then there's the other problem._ It was a good thing he had Ryohei do some spy work today. Admittedly, Mukuro or Chrome would have been his first choices, followed by Takeshi, but Ryohei was the perfect person for this particular job. If Reborn's hunch was correct, and if Ryohei's report corroborated his thoughts, then the whole thing just got messier.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked the chapter! Also, I'm thinking of pairing Tsuna with either Haru or Kyoko. I have my own preference for Tsuna when it comes to pairing him with either one of these girls, but I'd love to hear your thoughts! The pairing will come along in future chapters.**

**AND YES, Ryohei by now has learned to tone down his extreme voice.**

* * *

**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**Shadowing: Hehe yup**

**ZeAwsumOtaku: True! Those are Flames I'm highly considering right now. I'm trying to see if I can fit her into other Flames, but I guess we'll just see.**

**PyruxDeltax: Me too! I was thinking around Winter Cup, too, so I'll just use your suggestion of revealing it during the GOM meeting, hehe. At the moment, I want at least one Miracle to be aware of it, though. Still unsure as to who, but Takao, Riko, and Momoi will definitely be made aware! (I really like the idea of Takao and Setsuna as friends hehe)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello! I'm back with a new chapter! Super sorry for not updating in such a long time :c college kept giving me so much stuff to do and it got slightly overwhelming but now I have the time to type. (That, and I've been focusing on my other fanfic, ****_Scarlet_****. It's a KnB fanfic, so you might wanna check it out hehe)**

**Hope you like this chapter!**

**ALSO: if you guys have suggestions on any interactions Setsuna could have with any of the Guardians, feel free to suggest, so I can use these as prompts for future chapters c:**

* * *

**4.**

Setsuna had a soft spot for children. They were just so innocent and adorable, and she loved spending time with them. It was why she took to Lambo and I-pin so well. It was also why, when she saw that a little boy by the swings all by himself, she didn't hesitate to approach him. (She also didn't want him to feel so lonely. She could tell by the look in his eyes as he looked at the children who were playing a few meters away from him.)

"May I sit with you?" she asked him.

The boy looked at her and hesitated before nodding and looking back at the kids.

She took a seat on the swing next to him and looked at him. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you care?" he asked her with a huff.

Setsuna shrugged. "No one should have to feel so lonely."

"I'm not _lonely_!" he spat out before redirecting his gaze to the other children. "They just don't like me, okay?"

"I don't see why," Setsuna said. "You seem perfectly pleasant to me."

"'Perfectly pleasant'," the boy repeated in a slightly mocking tone. "Why are you even here?"

"You seemed like you needed the company."

"Well, I _don't, _so go away."

Setsuna hummed and looked away from him, gazing at the children. She really didn't want him to feel lonely. Maybe she wasn't being completely selfless about this, though. When she saw him, she could practically see her own eyes, memories of how she had been ignored as a child simply because no one could notice her presence until they accidentally bumped into her. She had been deemed creepy by the other kids because of her low presence and because of how quiet she was.

She just didn't want anyone else to go through what she did, and she herself had wished that anyone would approach her or even give a thought. (Family didn't count. Her mother and her grandparents always saw her. Her father had, too, before he died.)

Before she could start another conversation with the kid, however, something had hit the back of her head, and all she knew was darkness.

* * *

When Setsuna came to, she noticed that she was tied to a pillar, her arms and legs completely bound by a thick rope. There was nothing covering her mouth or her eyes, something she was thankful for. She was able to breathe _and_ try to make sense of her surroundings and of what had happened to her.

All she could remember was speaking to the kid on the swings, so what had happened? She noted that she was in a dimly lit room that contained a lot of pillars and a table and chair at the center. It was disconcerting that she was currently the only one in the room, but she figured that whoever had done this to her was elsewhere. Another quick glance around made her realize that there were no windows in this room, which, admittedly, was smart since no one outside the building she was in would be able to easily find her. Then again, no one in Namimori (if she was still in Namimori), save for Tsuna, could see her.

Setsuna sighed and tried to move her arms. It seemed whoever had tied the ropes on her had made a lot of knots and had made sure that there was no way she could possibly escape. What was she to do now?

Footsteps headed towards the room she was in called her attention and she gazed at the double doors in front of her that swung open. A man with glasses entered and behind him was a rather elderly man with a cane who made his way towards the only chair in the room.

"You might be wondering why you're here, Kuroko Setsuna," the elderly man said with a nasty smile.

Setsuna nodded, not like she could do much in her situation.

"Let me make matters brief for you. You are a hostage meant to lure out Vongola Decimo."

_Vongola Decimo?_ Setsuna's eyebrows furrowed at the foreign words. What did those mean, exactly? "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Surely, you jest," the elderly man said condescendingly.

"I'm afraid I haven't taken any language classes in… whatever language you spoke," Setsuna said drily.

"Well, Kuroko-chan, I suppose I'll make it easier for you to understand," the elderly man smiled. "Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Tsuna?" Setsuna wondered out loud in confusion. What could this man possibly want with her cousin? And why was she meant to be a hostage? Was her cousin doing something dangerous? But he was so gentle.

"Now we're getting somewhere," the elderly man chuckled. "I'd like you to tell me all that you can about Sawada Tsunayoshi and his Guardians."

_Guardians? Does he mean Nana-oba-san and her husband…?_

The elderly man sighed in exasperation. "Luca."

The man in glasses nodded and suddenly his right hand was covered in indigo colored flames. Setsuna was getting really confused and wondered if she was simply hallucinating because of the injury to her head.

Suddenly, darkness surrounded her and voices were muttering all around her. _"You're a failure." "I don't need your passes anymore, Setsu." "Kuroko, your attempts at getting Aomine to practice are quite irritating. You might as well leave him be." "Setsuna, there's no point. Perhaps you should practice more instead?" "I don't wanna, Setsu-chin."_

All she could hear was the voices of her former teammates, an echo of what had happened in the last year of Teiko, and it was so painful to have to relive those voices all again. She didn't know why she was hearing these all of a sudden, but she couldn't stop the tears that were falling down her cheeks. She didn't want to hear them. She went to Namimori to try to forget, maybe to accept and deal with it.

_Get out of my head. Get out, get out, geT OUT!_

And then, in the blink of an eye, the darkness went away and she could see the elderly man and the man named Luca again. She was in the room, still bound the pillar. "What… what was that… what did you…"

Her voice was shaking, and she couldn't hide the _fear_ she felt from what had transpired.

"Such is the beauty of Mist Flames, hm?" the elderly man said, leaning back on his chair as he looked at Luca with pride in his eyes.

_Mist Flames? What is he talking about?_

"Now," the elderly man leaned forward, hands clasped together. "I want information on Sawada Tsunayoshi and his Guardians. If you give me enough information, I might consider letting you go unharmed."

"I don't understand what's happening, but I'm not telling you anything about Tsuna," Setsuna huffed. "Neither will I talk about his family."

"So you do know something?" the elderly man hummed. "About his Famiglia?"

"Why are you talking in foreign terms?" Setsuna glared at him, tired of being so confused. "I don't understand. What do you mean by Guardians? Or Famiglia? Or flames?"

The elderly man raised an eyebrow at her before turning to Luca. Luca approached her, brushing the bangs that covered his right eye as he gazed into her own eyes. Setsuna tensed at how close he was to her, trying her best to move away, but his right hand shot out and grasped her chin tightly.

"Interesting," Luca said before letting her go and walking back to his place behind the elderly man. "She is speaking the truth, Don Mariano. She knows nothing at all."

"Oho?" the elderly man, Don Mariano, smiled. "It's interesting how you know nothing about Sawada Tsunayoshi and his Famiglia. He's told you noting, it seems."

Setsuna kept looking at him with a confused and frustrated face, and it seemed to amuse Don Mariano.

"I see. Perhaps I shall take this task to enlighten you about your cousin's background," Don Mariano told her.

* * *

It had been an hour since Setsuna said she was going to be taking a walk around the neighborhood. Tsuna had been fine with it since Namimori was _their _territory, and he didn't think she would take too long anyways. That is, until thirty minutes in, his Intuition started screaming at him to look for her, so he bolted out of the house and ran across the streets looking for her. He had contacted Ryohei and Takeshi, as well, since they were in town, asking them to help him look for her.

His Intuition worked like a GPS sometimes, like a signal becoming stronger the closer he was to something suspicious, or something he was looking for, so he followed his internal GPS and ended up at a playground. To be more specific, the swings. His eyes narrowed when he felt faint traces of Mist Flames, and he knew Setsuna was just a civilian, so there was a chance that Setsuna had been here and had been taken by someone with Mist Flames.

And that left the question of 'who'. Who would be stupidly brave enough to threaten the Vongola like this, and who had managed to piece it all together? Setsuna had not even been in Namimori for a week, and Kyoya and the Disciplinary Committee would have known if anyone suspicious was nearby.

He scowled and stayed rooted to the spot, bringing his phone out to call Mukuro. "Mukuro, I need a favor."

"Oya? And what might that be?" the pineapple head replied with an amused tone.

"Someone's taken my cousin. I was hoping you could trace the Mist Flames that are lingering by to try to see where they could have taken her. They were pretty stealthy about it, too."

"I'll send Chrome. She'll be there in a few minutes."

Tsuna thanked him before ending the call and sitting on the swings. This wasn't supposed to happen. If anything was going to happen to Setsuna, his Intuition would have warned him. Unless, of course, she made an impulsive decision that his Intuition probably didn't predict or take into account?

"Tsuna!"

Tsuna's head snapped up to see Ryohei and Takeshi running towards him. "Takeshi, Onii-san."

"So this is where she disappeared to the extreme, huh?" Ryohei crossed his arms. "Extremely reeks of Mist Flames."

"She'll be fine, Tsuna. We'll get her," Takeshi smiled at him optimistically but Tsuna could see that Takeshi was scanning the surroundings, too.

"I hope so," Tsuna sighed. "I just feel like it's my fault. I shouldn't have let her go walking alone."

"You didn't know it would happen," Takeshi frowned.

"My Intuition should have known earlier," Tsuna leaned his head on one of the swing's chains.

"She wouldn't blame you, Bossu."

Tsuna stood up and smiled as he saw Chrome. "You're here! Thank you. I'm sorry for how sudden it is."

Chrome shook her head. "It's okay. We'll save your cousin."

Chrome then narrowed her eyes. "I can still find a path for the Mist Flames. Perhaps we should contact the others, Bossu? At the end of this path might be more mafiosos."

Tsuna nodded. "I'll get Kyoya. It's a shame Reborn and Hayato are out of the country right now, but we'll make do."

He then gazed at them, eyes blazing orange. "Let's go save her."

* * *

Setsuna's head was spinning with the amount of information Don Mariano had dumped on her. Thankfully, he had left her alone in peace to think about everything she learned, though he promised to return later on to get information out of _her_ this time.

Her cousin was a mafia boss, and not just a regular mafia boss. He was the mafia boss of the world's strongest mafia family, the Vongola Famiglia. He, and his friends, including the Hayato and Takeshi people he had told her about, along with _Lambo_, the little kid in his house, were _mafiosos_. Reborn, his 'tutor', was actually his mafia tutor, and advisor.

It wasn't that the information terrified her. Sure, she was worried about his safety now, but it was also just simply surprising that he cousin lead a double life. She wasn't sure how she felt about it right now, but she knew she wasn't completely against it. It was just… _odd_ to hear and to learn about.

An explosion shook her out of her thoughts as shouts followed. She didn't know what was happening, but she tensed when she started hearing gunshots and more explosions. Were the police here?

She knew she felt a little too hopeful, but she couldn't help but hope regardless.

The double doors of the room burst open once more and Setsuna could see Luca hurrying towards her, removing the rope that bound her to the pole, and the rope that bound her legs, but not the rope that held her hands together.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You're a hostage, Kuroko," Luca told her. "Don Mariano's going to use that right now. The Vongola found us pretty quickly."

_Tsuna was here, then? The explosions were caused by him and his friends?_ Setsuna felt hope blossom as she waited for Tsuna to show up. She hated how helpless she was, but it wasn't as if she knew how to fight, nor did she ever expect this situation to happen to her.

Luca pulled her along the corridors, somehow avoiding all the fighting that was occurring before he lead her to the rooftop. There, Don Mariano was standing with a smile on his face.

"Ah, yes, thank you, Luca," Don Mariano smiled. Luca bowed and disappeared in a flurry of indigo flames.

Don Mariano grabbed Setsuna roughly and seemed to just wait there. Setsuna felt her heart pounding on her chest. Would he push her off of the roof? She didn't want to die just yet.

After a few minutes of hearing nothing but her erratic heartbeat and the wind, her eyes widened when she suddenly saw Tsuna _fly_ up with _orange fire bursting from his hands_. It was a sight she never thought she'd see outside of tv shows so she couldn't help her mouth dropping open in shock and in awe.

Next to her, Don Mariano chuckled and brought out a gun, pointing it at her temple. "Well, well, well, it's good to see you again, Decimo."

"Don Enrique Mariano," Tsuna glared as he landed on the rooftop, being careful with his movements lest Don Mariano pull the trigger. It was one thing to threaten a trained member of the Famiglia, but it was a whole other thing to threaten a civilian member of his _family_. "I didn't see you in during the Inheritance Ceremony. This explains a lot."

"I am not the only one who is against a _child_ taking over the Vongola and changing a lot of the ideals it stood for."

"The Vongola wasn't always bloody. Primo started it as a vigilante group, after all. I just want to shape the Vongola to something that can be better."

"Well, I'm an old man, Decimo, and I'm stuck in my ways," Don Mariano smiled, "which is why I'm afraid that using a hostage is something completely normal to me. Such a shame to waste her potential."

"This feud is between you and me Don Mariano. Let my cousin go," Tsuna glared at him.

"It will be difficult to fight me while worrying about her, no?" Don Mariano chuckled as his finger hovered dangerously by the trigger.

Tsuna glowered at him before his expression turned blank. He gazed at Setsuna. "Setsuna-chan, I want you to close your eyes, okay?"

"W-What—"

"Close your eyes. Trust me."

His words sounded so sincere. Trust him. Did she trust him? He was her cousin and he had been nothing but nice to her. _But he's a mafioso_. But so what? That didn't change who he was, right?

Despite her indecisiveness, Setsuna closed her eyes, slightly regretting it now that she was more aware of the cold metal that pressed on her skin.

The wind seemed to grow colder and her heartbeat seemed to grow louder and louder. For a few moments, there was deafening silence, and then all she could hear was a gunshot and screams and the sound of metal and—

"Setsuna-chan, you can open your eyes now."

Setsuna opened her eyes and saw Tsuna standing in front of her, eyes orange instead of their usual brown. He crouched down in front of her and held her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Setsuna nodded and tried to take a peek at Don Mariano, curious to know what had happened to him, but Tsuna held her shoulders firmly and hugged her.

"You don't need to see that, Setsuna-chan. You're not _supposed_ to see that. I'm really sorry this happened to you," Tsuna sighed as he felt the girl shake slightly in his arms. "But you're safe now, okay? You're safe. He's not going to hurt you anymore."

* * *

"It's unfortunate that that happened, Dame Tsuna. You say your Intuition only rang thirty minutes after she left?" Reborn responded as he took a sip of his espresso. He was currently on a flight back to Japan, and he was disappointed that he had not been there with his student, but he was also proud since his student had really come a long way. "It must have been an impulsive decision on Mariano's part. After all, we didn't expect him to attack anytime soon."

"So you knew he was stationed in Namimori?"

"Drop that accusing tone, Dame Tsuna. We heard reports in Italy, that's why I left. I wanted to know if there was any chance of him going to Japan, but the reports were planted by his own men," Reborn said.

Tsuna sighed. "I know, I'm sorry, Reborn. I was just so worried for her. She's a civilian. She wasn't supposed to—"

"And that's why you're going to have to tell her, Dame Tsuna. She may be a civilian but she needs to be protected. Kyoko has her brother, and Haru's off the radar for the others since she hasn't hung around you as often since school has kept her busy. But what if this happens again? She needs to learn, Dame-Tsuna."

"…Okay, Reborn. I'll tell her tomorrow."

* * *

**A/N: I felt that it was a little too sudden to introduce Setsu to the mafia world, but after some reflection, I realized it was necessary and that it would make it easier for me to make her interact with Yamamoto more c: and yes, there will be Yamamoto-Setsuna interaction in the next chapter.**

**I also feel like Setsuna would handle the revelation well, that Tsuna was in the mafia, because she feels like the type to be able to accept easily, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.**

**Also, Setsuna ****_will_**** have Rain and Mist Flames. Not sure which the secondary would be, but definitely those two flames. AND for the purpose of this story, her father is dead. I checked my other chapters to see if I ever mentioned him but I think I only mentioned her mom (Sen) so yes. **

**Again, I'll be focusing on ****_Scarlet_**** so I won't be able to update this as fast as I'd love to, but I will try my best not to make you guys wait as long as you did for this chapter :c sorry again**

**And I hope you guys and your families are safe right now! I hope we all get through this :c**

* * *

**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**I hope I typed your usernames correctly**

**atrum nemus: Yes, don't worry hehe! I'm more of a 2786 fan, but I currently have no pairing ideas for Tsuna. Will take your thoughts into consideration, though!**

**olivia . rodriguez . 927: I love Takao too ;-; i'll try to think of a way to make him and Setsu close hehe**

**Mira1331: Thank you, that's so good to hear! Here's the continuation c:**

**RoyalBreeze: Thank you so much! I will def continue this c:**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Henlo! I'm back with another chapter c: lately I've been on a bit of a writing spree (hence my new fanfic ****_Rain on Me_****, a Todoroki Shoto x SI-Oc fanfic if you wanna check it out o)o)) and that's the reason for this update hehe**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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**5.**

Setsuna didn't remember how she got home. Yesterday's events just kept replaying in her mind until she finally became conscious of the fact that it was already morning, and that a note on her desk said that Nana had gone out to go shopping with I-Pin, and that there was some soup for her downstairs.

Setsuna changed into more presentable clothes before heading downstairs. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Tsuna sitting there in the dining table, two bowls of soup on the table.

"Good morning, Setsu-chan," Tsuna smiled gently at her.

She returned the greeting with a nod. "Good morning, Tsuna-kun."

She took a seat in front of him and stared at the bowl in front of her. Chicken noodle soup. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but chicken noodle soup was her go-to comfort food, _especially_ after what she had just been through.

"Listen, about yesterday," Tsuna frowned, shifting around nervously before sighing and looking at her with guilty eyes, "you deserve an explanation."

Setsuna shrugged, taking a sip from her soup. It was still warm and comforting. "It's not every day you get taken as a hostage."

At this, Tsuna winced, but Setsuna continued, "That guy… he said some weird things about you."

Tsuna's eyes widened slightly at this. "What exactly did he say, Setsu-chan? Maybe we can start from there."

"Well, he mentioned some foreign terms," Setsuna frowned. "Like… Flames?"

Tsuna nodded. "Okay. We can start there."

He held out his hand towards her, and Setsuna stared at it, wondering what she was supposed to do with it, until it was suddenly covered in orange flames. She inhaled sharply in surprise before looking at Tsuna, who didn't seem bothered by the fire at all. In fact, now that she thought about it, the fire in his hand felt a little… comforting?

"Everyone has what we call 'Flames'," Tsuna began, gesturing to the Flame surrounding his hand, "although not everyone can manifest it like this. A lot of people, who we call 'civilians', are Flame Latent. It means the Flames are there inside of them, but they can't do what I'm doing right now. I'm Flame Active, which is why I can do this."

"Why is yours orange?" Setsuna asked, shivering a little when she remembered the things Luca had made her see. "There was a man… he… his were indigo-colored. Not orange like yours."

Tsuna bit his lip worriedly. "Those are… let's get into Flame Types, then. There are Flames of Sky and Flames of Earth, but let's just focus on the Flames of Sky. There are seven types in the Flames of Sky. What I have is a Sky Flame. It's orange, and its main property is harmony."

"Harmony," Setsuna repeated with a thoughtful tone. "Is that why it feels so comforting?"

Tsuna blinked. "You can _feel_ it?"

"A little," Setsuna admitted. "It's like… it kind of feels like home? But it also doesn't."

"But I already have a complete set," Tsuna muttered to himself in confusion before clearing his throat. "I'm surprised you can feel it. Not every civilian can. I guess your sensitive to Flames."

"Maybe."

"Anyways, so there's also the Storm Flame, it's red and its main property is disintegration. It's usually used for offensive fighting, since it can break things down. The Rain Flame is blue and its main property is tranquility. It can weaken or slow down attacks, or cancel out other Flames. The Lightning Flame is green and its main property is Hardening, so it can be used as a barrier or a shield or as a weapon as well. Actually, all the Flames can be used defensively or offensively. There's also the yellow Sun Flame that's used for Activation, which can speed up something, like cells, so lots of people use this for healing. Then the purple Cloud Flame is for Propagation, which multiplies something, and I know someone who's really into the application of this for fighting," Tsuna continued, shivering when he remembered sparring against Hibari.

However, he frowned when he considered the last Flame type he hadn't mentioned. If Setsuna had seen the Flame, could it be that Don Mariano had it used against her? He clenched his fist. At least Don Mariano had been taken care of now, but if his Intuition hadn't worked at all, if he had been too late, would she have been subjected to Mist torture? Don Mariano should be grateful Tsuna had the proper mind to hand him over to the Vindice. Otherwise, he would have taken _proper care_ of Don Mariano.

"The last one you haven't mentioned," Setsuna inhaled. "It's the one that…"

Tsuna looked at her curiously.

"He had his subordinate enter my mind somehow," Setsuna told him, hugging herself. "I kept hearing _them_, you know? I didn't think I'd hear those again. Not so soon."

"'Them'?" Tsuna asked her.

Setsuna shook her head. "Sorry, it's nothing. Please continue."

Tsuna didn't want to push her to say anything. After all, it was practically a miracle for her to be discussing what happened to her yesterday so calmly with him. He half expected her to freak out the moment he started explaining, but his Intuition did assure him that it was alright to explain to her now. She _did_ deserve to know what happened to her.

So, he decided to file away this piece of information in his head for the future. He'd confront her about it next time. "The indigo Flames you saw were Mist Flames. Mist Flames have the property Construction, which helps people create illusions. That's probably why you… heard what you heard."

"Oh," was all Setsuna said before biting her cheek. It was nice to know that it was simply a construct, but it just felt so _real_, as if she was back there on the court, back in Teiko, back to a team that was no longer a team.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that because of me," Tsuna said, standing up to bow to her. "I can't say it won't happen again."

"Wait, what…" Setsuna's eyes widened. "Please don't bow. I'm fine. Really."

Tsuna looked up at her worriedly but nodded and sat back down.

"So why were they after you? How is it related to these… Flames?"

Tsuna prepared himself for her response. "Setsu-chan, I'm… I'm a Mafia boss."

"…What."

It had taken a few more hours of explaining, how he had just lived his life until Reborn came through the door, how he found out he was the heir to the Vongola, how he met his Guardians, and the Varia, and everything else that happened.

He did just give her vague details about what had happened ten years in the future. He didn't think that was something he wanted to subject to her to. Besides, he and the others had already taken steps to ensure that that future wasn't going to be _their _future. (Looking back, he was happy she hadn't been in that future. That meant that she had been safe from the Mafia.)

He did have to clarify some more things to her, like why his ass of a father had kept his distance, and why his Flames had been sealed. He also learned that she had already met Ryohei, although briefly.

"So, that's my story," Tsuna said, rubbing the back of his neck. Honestly, it would probably be better for Setsuna to go back to Tokyo, free from this nonsense, but if Don Mariano had found her, what more the other enemies of the Vongola? Sure, he was working on reforming the Vongola, but there would still be those opposed to how he ran it. What if they found out about Setsuna? She would be in danger.

"It's… a _lot_," Setsuna said with a small smile. "I'll probably need some time to process this."

Tsuna nodded. It was fine. He had taken a while to accept his position as a Mafia boss anyways. "Take all the time you need."

* * *

Setsuna seemed to be fine for the next few days, as if she was coming to terms with what she had heard. Still, Tsuna knew that for the duration of her stay in Namimori, he had to at least teach her how to defend herself, or have somebody guard her if she ever wanted to get out of the house. He wasn't stupid enough to consider telling her that maybe it would be better if she was going to be on house arrest.

He was confident that, now that they knew Setsuna could be in danger, they could be more prepared for anything that could happen in the future.

One way to do so was to introduce her to his Guardians, but he decided to introduce her to his closest friends, Hayato and Takeshi, first, just to ease her into it.

That was why, at ten in the morning, the doorbell rang and Tsuna went down and opened the door to find Hayato and Takeshi there. "Thanks for coming, Hayato-kun, Takeshi-kun!"

"Haha, no problem, Tsuna!" Takeshi said as he and Hayato stepped inside.

"Anything for Juudaime!" was Hayato's response making Tsuna sweatdrop as he closed the door behind them and led them upstairs.

"How's your cousin?" Takeshi asked.

"She's fine. Well, she _says_ she is, but she seems to be," Tsuna smiled. "I told her about the Mafia and Flames already, but, the problem is, she's still going to be in danger."

"Which is why you need her to be protected?" Hayato hummed as they finally arrived in front of Setsuna's door.

"Yes," Tsuna sighed before knocking on her door. "Setsu-chan, my friends are here. Can we enter your room?"

"Yeah, you can come in," was the muffled response before Tsuna opened the door.

He found his cousin lying down on her bed, fiddling with her phone. When she finally noticed them awkwardly hovering by her doorframe, she chuckled and stood up. "You guys can make yourselves comfortable."

Tsuna laughed before heading in with Hayato and Takeshi as they settled down on the floor.

"So, what can I do for you today?" Setsuna asked as she settled down on her bed, gazing at Hayato and Takeshi curiously.

"Well, for one, I thought it would be nice if you finally met my Guardians," Tsuna explained. "Most of them are in Namimori, anyways, and well, you know, I thought that… in case anything happens again… well, would you be opposed to having one of them with you if you ever go out of the house?"

Setsuna tilted her head to the side curiously. "You mean, like a bodyguard?"

"Something like that," Tsuna admitted. "It would really make me feel better if I know that you're with someone that can protect you. It's my fault you're in this mess. I need to take responsibility. Of course, if you're opposed to it, that's fine! -ish, well—"

"It's okay, Tsuna-kun. I'll be fine with it, and I understand that it's for my protection. It's not like I can fight, anyways," Setsuna giggled before turning to the two boys who accompanied Tsuna. "I just hope you guys are okay with this. I promise I won't be too much trouble."

"Anything Juudaime asks of me will be done!" Hayato said confidently. "Ah, I'm Gokudera Hayato."

"And I'm Yamamoto Takeshi," Takeshi grinned at her. "If it's Tsuna's cousin, I'm fine with it, haha!"

"And I'm Kuroko Setsuna," Setsuna smiled at them before turning to Tsuna. "I suppose going to the bakery counts as needing a bodyguard?"

Tsuna nodded sheepishly. "Can't take any chances."

"That's completely fine," Setsuna said.

"Although," Tsuna added, "Takeshi-kun's agreed to be your main bodyguard."

"Main?"

"Well, Hayato-kun sometimes has to go back to Italy. Lambo's just a kid. Onii-san _could_ sometimes, but his main priority would be his sister, Kyoko-chan. And as for Mukuro and Kyoya, well, I trust them but—"

"That damn pineapple would corrupt you, Kuroko-san," Hayato nodded in agreement.

"And Hibari usually patrols the whole of Namimori," Takeshi added.

"I see," Setsuna said before frowning. "I'm sorry I'll be taking up your time a lot, Yamamoto-san. I'll make sure not to go out a lot."

"Eh? But that would suck," Takeshi said to her. "Haha! It's better to get out a lot, Kuroko-san! You're on a vacation here, after all. No sense being stuck in the house all day. And call me 'Takeshi', Kuroko-san. Yamamoto-san's my old man."

"In that case, call me 'Setsuna' or 'Setsu'. You, too, Gokudera-san," Setsuna said.

"T-Then call me 'Hayato'!" Hayato said, resembling an excited puppy. For a second, Setsuna could see Ryota instead of Hayato before she hurriedly removed the image from her mind.

_You left so you wouldn't have to deal with them first. Don't remember them, Setsu. Don't even think about them._

She would leave behind the Generation of Miracles for the rest of the time she would be in Namimori. Just for a few more weeks.

* * *

Setsuna found Hayato and Takeshi to be quite pleasant people. Hayato truly was like a puppy towards Tsuna, and she found it adorable that Hayato was that devoted to Tsuna. Takeshi, on the other hand, was always so carefree and happy, that it honestly made her feel a bit better in general. She supposed it could be due to the Rain Flames that Tsuna said he had, but his personality certainly did help.

_It was almost as if he was like— no, _**_stop_**_, Setsu. _

"You okay?" Takeshi asked from beside her.

They were currently at a cake shop. Setsuna was honestly craving for cake, and since no one was available to deliver cake to the house, she had initially decided to just deal with her cravings in another way. Tsuna, however, had noticed and had informed her Takeshi was free today. She honestly didn't want to bother the older boy, but the latter had easily agreed to accompany her when Tsuna asked.

So in return, she said he had to choose a cake to eat for himself. If he was going to accompany her, she could at least make it worth it.

"Yeah," Setsuna said. "Just ended up thinking about… something."

Takeshi nodded and didn't pry, which was something Setsuna was grateful for.

"What do you do in your free time, Takeshi-kun?" Setsuna asked him. If it was something she could do, she would much rather ask to do something related to it. She felt a little guilty knowing she was probably taking away his time to do… whatever it was he did in his free time.

"Well, on some mornings, I sometimes help out my old man at our sushi bar, TakeSushi. Afternoons are spent on baseball, and weekends are for whatever I feel like doing, to be honest, haha!" he said as he took a bite from his hot milk cake.

"Baseball? You're on the baseball team?"

"Yup!"

Just another reminder of what she had lost.

"And how's your team…?"

"Maa, well, honestly, they used to just make me be the batter," he admitted sheepishly.

"I'm not very familiar with baseball terms," Setsuna said, "but does that mean you were one of their best?"

"I guess so? Haha! But there are definitely others better than me," Takeshi said. "I just like being the batter."

"And does everyone in your team… like each other? Is your team… a _team_?"

Takeshi blinked his eyes, a little confused by her question. He noticed that she just ended up staring at her vanilla buttercream cake, fork playing with the icing. It was as if her mind was somewhere else. Did it have anything to do with the questions she was asking?

"I think so! We rarely have problems with each other, if that's what you mean."

"Everyone goes to practice…?"

"Of course! Everyone knows they need practice regardless of how good people say they are," Takeshi nodded seriously. "Practice isn't something that should be skipped. I mean, overpracticing would be bad, of course. I once injured myself doing so, haha. But practicing is always important. You can't win alone, after all! The team needs to be there so everyone can work together."

He was just answering from the heart, about something he was passionate about. He didn't know why his answer seemed to make her smile, why her eyes seemed to be so _sad_, and he was honestly just confused.

But she thanked him for his answer and continued eating her cake, leaving him wondering about the mystery that surrounded her.

* * *

"So the Mariano may have had a role in splitting Kuroko Sen and Sawada Nana," Reborn said as he tossed the pictures of the two women onto the table. He, Tsuna, and Ryohei had gone back to the place where Don Mariano had kidnapped Kuroko Setsuna, and they found these pictures, along with documents that showed that they had been keeping track of what the women were doing. "It's likely they prevented the two from communicating with each other before."

"But what could be the reason?" Tsuna frowned. "Do you think it's related to Iemitsu?"

"Could be," Reborn nodded.

"It's going to be extremely hard to find out the reason why since Don Mariano is now with Vindice, and I extremely doubt they would let us see him," Ryohei added.

"Can we try investigating some of their allied Famiglias? Anyone who was stationed close to Tokyo, for instance. Or close to Setsuna's house," Tsuna wondered out loud. "We could start with those Famiglias and try to get some intel from them."

"Not bad, Dame Tsuna," Reborn said with a brief smirk, "but we also need to make sure that these information that the Mariano had been collecting hasn't been spread to their allies. Otherwise, it won't just be Setsuna in danger. Her family would be, as well."

* * *

**Extra: How Tsuna felt about Setsuna's calm reaction**

"Reborn."

"What do you want, Dame Tsuna?"

"Setsu-chan took it calmly."

"And that's why you're disturbed? Shouldn't you be grateful she isn't freaking out about this?" Reborn scowled as he took a sip from his espresso.

"HIEEE BUT REBORN, SHE'S TAKING THIS TOO CALMLY!" Tsuna said, looking close enough to biting his fingers. "I know _I_ freaked out, but this is just— _how_ is she so calm about it? She's just been going through her days calmly without any outbursts or anything. Should I be worried? I'm already worried what am I talking about—"

His ramblings were cut short by Reborn hitting his head with a paper fan. "HIEE! Reborn, what was that for?"

"I thought I taught you better than this, Dame Tsuna. It just means your cousin is processing things way better than you did," Reborn said with an evil smirk. "Maybe I should put you through supplementary lessons."

"HIEE, NO, REBORN. WAIT, WHAT'S THAT CHIHUAHUA FOR? DID YOU GET THAT FROM THE NEIGHBORS? REBORN, GET IT AWAY. HIIEEEEEEEEEE."

* * *

**A/N: And that's it for now c: I honestly feel like Setsu would have been at mild disbelief at first but then Tsuna did explain everything and it would add up to what she experienced so she would slowly come to terms with it. She'd also be open to the bodyguard idea since she's aware she can't fight back, but she does feel guilty since she feels like she'll be taking up their time, especially Yamamoto's. (But, they're the main pair, so, sorry, Setsu, but our boi's gonna be near you a lot from now on.)**

**Also the info about the Flames came from the KHR wiki page: ** reborn. fandom wiki/ Dying_ Will_ Flame

**See you next update!**

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**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**i hope i typed your usernames correctly**

**n1ghtdr34m3r: True! Might go for Rain primary instead tbh. And omg, you have a point about the GOM :c oh, the what-ifs. ACTUALLY, I'll take that idea into consideration (about her activating her Flames for Takeshi nyehehe that's actually such a cute idea omg thank you)**

**xXxOtAkU-444xXx: Thank you! That's great to hear :3**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Henlo, everyone! So, I have some online classes right now and I've been prioritizing them which is why I haven't found the time to type another chapter, but I was able to squeeze this in my schedule c: If you are a reader of my other fanfics, rest assured I try my best to update them this month.**

**BIG THANK YOU since we're now at 200+ faves and 270+ follows c: much love yall**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**_To/From Nickname / Name on person's phone (Day, time sent): _**_the text message._

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**6.**

For the past few days, Takeshi really did do his part in accompanying her whenever she went out of the house. Setsuna was honestly fine with just staying inside, but Nana and Tsuna always encouraged her to go out — the latter surprised her but he said that she should still be enjoying her stay here without having to be afraid of being kidnapped again because he and his Guardians would be doing their best to ensure her safety. Still, she didn't want to burden them too much, so she tried to keep her walks to a minimum.

Because of the situation, Setsuna found herself exchanging phone numbers with both Hayato and Takeshi. It made the arrangement more convenient for all parties, and it helped for instances where Takeshi would not be available to accompany her.

Today was one of those instances, so it was Hayato who was walking with her as they window shopped along the shopping district.

"What do you plan to buy, Setsuna-san?" Hayato asked her when he noticed her eyes glancing towards a store that sold shoes.

"I'm not quite sure. I don't even know what I'm looking for," the girl said, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the white sneakers she saw. "And please, drop the '-san', Hayato-kun."

"…Right," Hayato said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Tsuna had informed her that Hayato didn't have the best experiences with girls. The first was his older sister, who had poisoned him a lot when they were younger (Setsuna had been quite concerned about this, but Hayato had assured her he and his sister were fine now, and such a thing wasn't completely out of the normal when in a Mafia family). And then there were the fangirls he seemed to get when he arrived in Namimori ("They were pretty terrifying," Tsuna told her as he shivered). He only really got along with I-pin and the other girls in the Famiglia, Sasagawa Kyoko, Miura Haru, and Kurokawa Hana, although he wasn't particularly close to any of them. So, he didn't really know how to act around girls sometimes, but Setsuna didn't really mind.

Setsuna chuckled at his awkwardness as they turned a corner. That was when a little boy came running towards Setsuna. Luckily, she was able to catch him before he knocked her over.

"Be careful where you're going, brat!" Hayato scolded the child, who seemed to look guilty.

"Sorry, nee-san!" the boy said, bowing. Two more boys ran towards them, laughing with a basketball in hand. "My friends and I are looking for a basketball court! Do you know where to find one?"

"Uh…"

"Tch, there's one over there. Take a right when you reach the salon," Hayato scowled as he gestured to his left.

"Thanks, nii-san!" the boy said as his friends ran with him to reach their destination.

Hayato huffed before looking to Setsuna, his words at the tip of his tongue when he stopped himself. She was wearing a wistful expression on her face as she stared at the retreating forms of the boys. It was the first time Hayato had seen that expression on her face. He was used to her being blank-faced most of the time, so this sudden display of emotions had him mildly concerned.

He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay, but was interrupted when her phone alerted her of a text message. Or rather, text _messages_ since she seemed to be receiving more every few seconds.

The messages seemed to snap her out of her daze as she brought out her phone and opened it, eyes widening as she stared at her screen. She seemed to freeze, as if she was unsure of whether to reply or to simply pocket her phone.

"Is something wrong, Setsuna-chan?"

"No, I—" Setsuna bit her lip before pocketing her phone. "That wasn't important, anyways. So, do you know any stores that sell good desserts?"

"Oh, there's one close to where we are. It sells some pretty good stuff, though their macarons are great."

"I'll have to try them then."

So the two made their way to the dessert shop. On the way, they passed by a piano that was meant for anyone to use. Currently, a girl who seemed to be close to Setsuna's age was playing a classical song on the piano, and Setsuna couldn't help but picture Akashi playing instead. In that moment, she imagined that she was back at Teiko's music room. Satsuki was sitting next to her, a satisfied smile on her face as she was able to convince both Akashi _and_ Midorima to play a piece for them. Sitting down on the floor in front of the girls would be Daiki, Ryota, and Atsushi, the latter munching on snacks despite knowing that snacks weren't allowed inside the music room.

And when the girl playing the piano stopped playing, Setsuna sighed as she turned her head away from the piano. She hated how she still couldn't seem to let them go, but she hated herself more because (was she forgetting how they ruined Shigehiro's happiness?) she knew that deep down, she still wanted all seven of them to be like that again.

"Do you know how to play the piano?" Hayato asked her as they made it to the store. It was surprisingly big, with clear glass containers displaying the assortment of sweets and desserts it produced.

"Ah, no, not me, but sometimes, Akashi-kun would—" Setsuna replied before stopping herself and frowning. "Where did you say the macarons were?"

Hayato frowned. The girl had seemed so bothered today ever since they bumped into those boys. He didn't know what was wrong, and he doubted she would confide in him. Oh, sure, he was her cousin's Guardian, but that didn't mean they knew each other well enough for that kind of heart-to-heart stuff. He'd just have to tell Juudaime about it afterwards.

"They're close to the counter. C'mon, I'll show you."

* * *

Kise Ryota sighed as he leaned back on his chair. On his desk were the papers that needed to be accomplished for him to go to Kaijo for high school. His mother had told him that he was old enough to do those by himself, though she would be double checking what he wrote afterwards. It was honestly so boring that he couldn't help but just stare at his ceiling.

Normally, during his bouts of boredom, he would have called Setsuna or Daiki, asking — _demanding_ — them to hang out with him and alleviate him of his boredom. Normally, Setsuna would have most likely declined as she grumbled about him disturbing her sleep, as he tended to call them in the middle of the night. Normally, Daiki would usually be the one entertaining him with one-on-ones through a computer game, earning them a scolding from both Setsuna and Satsuki whenever they played on school nights.

But things weren't normal anymore, not since… not since everything just started going downhill.

Ryota couldn't pinpoint a particular event that started it all. Was it Murasakibara and Akashi's one-on-one? Was it when Daiki discovered his talents? Or was it that match with Meiko? He just didn't know.

He understood that basketball was causing the tension, though. They simply became too good, so he could understand why the Generation of Miracles would choose to go to different schools — it would be boring after all if they were on the same team and they'd just keep winning and winning because it was simply a fact that they would come out on top — but that didn't mean they had to drift away off-court, right?

Setsuna and Daiki were the ones he was closest to, but Daiki had been avoiding most of them, spending his time reading his _magazines_ and exercising on his own. Setsuna, on the other hand, just seemed to have vanished. While Ryota sometimes caught a glimpse of Daiki, he just didn't know where Setsuna was, so he decided to drop by her house. He was surprised when her mother told her she was away in Namimori with a cousin. Surely, she would have told him, right?

Frowning, he glanced at his cellphone before determination blazed in his eyes. He typed his messages to Setsuna, pressing the 'send' button once he was done rereading what he had written.

She had to answer, right?

* * *

**_From Ryo-kun (Thursday, 3:15 PM): _**_Kurokocchi, what's up? We haven't talked since graduation :'c I miss you-ssu! _

**_From Ryo-kun (Thursday, 3:15 PM):_**_ I know I was busy a lot after, so I'm sorry if I never called or texted or dropped by your house T^T_

**_From Ryo-kun (Thursday, 3:15 PM)_**_: Are you okay, though? Your mom told me you went to Namimori. I guess I'm kind of surprised I didn't know you were leaving. :'c Are you coming back soon?_

* * *

"You're amazing, Setsu-chan!" Tsuna told her as they placed the cookies in the oven, waiting for the delicious desserts to finish cooking for them to munch on afterwards. Nana had taken the kids out to the aquarium today, leaving the two teenagers in the house.

"I just bake a lot," Setsuna chuckled as she took a seat on one of the chairs in the kitchen.

"I'm guessing you were pretty good at Home Ec back at your middle school. Teiko, right?"

"Baking was just one part of Home Ec, but I did get a relatively good grade for it," Setsuna said. Baking was just her forte. She was probably just decent when it came to cooking, but baking just came easily to her. She used to make the chocolates she'd give out to… to _them_ during Valentine's, too. "How was it at your school?"

"I was _terrible_," Tsuna laughed. "I was so clumsy with just about everything."

"I'm sure you weren't that bad," Setsuna smiled before frowning, "and it was Vongola Nono's fault for placing that seal on you, right?"

"Yeah, but… what's done is done. At least it showed me there were still people willing to be my friends despite that, you know? That I could still do some good." Tsuna sobered up, nodding as he recalled all the bullying he had went through because of how Dame he had been. Had he not been sealed, would he have been friends with his classmates instead? _Probably not_, he smiled at the thought of his friends right now, because he would rather have gone through his Dame stage to find them again. "Anyways, what are your plans for high school?"

"Ah, I applied to Seirin High School," Setsuna replied. "It's small and relatively new, but it has good facilities. What's your high school like?"

"Well, it's honestly just like middle school for me since most of the people came from Namimori Middle. People still seem to believe I'm still Dame, but I've been proving them wrong," Tsuna said with a proud smile on his face. "Ichinose-san, one of my groupmates from that time you gave me my notebook, kind of stood up for me. She never did that before, so I guess things are improving on my part. How do you think Seirin will be? Namimori isn't Tokyo, after all."

"I've been told about life in Seirin from an upperclassman who toured me around when I went there, and I suppose it would be just like when I was at Teiko, but less strict when it came to academics and… other things."

"Teiko?" Tsuna's Intuition was ringing at the mention of her middle school, almost as if it was warning him that this was something important for him to know about. "What was it like there?"

"Teiko prided itself on being ever victorious," Setsuna said as she fiddled with her fingers. "That included being at the top of both academics and sports, so members of sports clubs really felt the pressure to excel in their academics while also being champions in their respective sports."

"Sounds like you've experienced that kind of pressure. What kind of sports club were you in?"

"I was in the basketball club."

Tsuna blinked his eyes in surprise. "Really? I didn't know Teiko had a females' basketball club?"

"You'd be correct. I was in the males' basketball club."

"EHHHH? That's amazing, Setsu-chan! You must be really good then!" Tsuna said with excitement. He was never one to enjoy sports, as his clumsiness had prevented him from ever being good at one before, but that never stopped him from watching sports, such as Takeshi's baseball games.

"I wasn't really so good," Setsuna admitted quietly, causing Tsuna's excitement to be replaced with concern. "…I—"

Setsuna was saved from explaining when the timer went off, signaling that the cookies were good to go. "I'll get the cookies."

Tsuna watched as his cousin walked to the oven to get the cookies out, frowning when his Intuition was still ringing.

* * *

"Luca, you've returned," a masked man said as he leaned back on his seat. In front of him, Luca bowed and let out an amused smile. "How was Mariano? Did the Vongola get him?"

"He has been taken away, yes," Luca said as he stood up straight. "Vongola Decimo, despite only being a high school student, fought well against him. Much better than I had expected, really."

"Interesting. I assume you recorded the battle for me?"

"Of course," Luca said as Mist Flames gathered around his hands. When the Flames dispersed, in his hands was a video camera. He handed the camera to the masked man, who opened it and watched the most recent video.

The masked man hummed in amusement as the sounds of Vongola Decimo and Don Mariano fighting echoed throughout the room. "He ended it fast. I'm surprised Decimo brought out the Zero Point Breakthrough. Mariano was strong, yes, but surely he was not strong enough to face Primo's technique?"

"It was the girl," Luca said as the masked man played the video again to look at the girl with light blue hair.

"Ah, yes, the cousin. Kuroko Setsuna," the masked man nodded. "And is there anything of note regarding her?"

"She didn't put up much of a fight when I used my Flames on her mind," Luca said, "although I did sense something _odd_ about her."

"Hmm?"

"She seems to be in the transition from being Flame Latent to Flame Active."

"Oho? And what kind of Flames does she possess?"

"She seems to have a Mist primary and a Rain secondary from what I could sense. It appears she's been using her Mist a few times before but in small amounts, which is probably why she hasn't gone Active yet."

"Hmm, not the Sky I had been hoping for, but useful nonetheless. How long will she be staying in Namimori?"

"For a few more weeks before she returns to Tokyo. At least, that's what I've been told."

"Find out where she'll be going to high school. If we get her while she's out of Decimo's reach, then it'll be all the more convenient for us."

* * *

**_From Kurokocchi (Thursday, 7:07 PM): _**_Sorry._

* * *

**A/N: I just can't write my boi Kise as someone to hate so we'll probably have a relatively good Kise, and I find it so cute how he just adores Kuroko, so a Kise-Kuroko friendship is one I'd like to keep. (Currently unsure about how to play around with her friendships with the other GoM, and Momoi, but we'll see.)**

**AND WE HAVE THE FLAME REVEAL. So, as some may have already guessed, her Flames are indeed a Mist primary and a Rain secondary. I considered other Flames for her secondary, but Rain made the most sense, along with Mist (for the misdirection), so yeah.**

**Other to stuff to note:**

**( 1 ) I made Setsu close friends with Aomine and Kise because I really liked the dynamic they had. She's not very close to Akashi, Midorima, and Murasakibara, but she's not on ****_bad_**** terms with them (at least, she wasn't until that Meiko game). As for Momoi, I guess she could be one of Setsu's friends, but Aomine and Kise would definitely be the ones closest to her.**

**( 2 ) For Setsu remembering stuff that reminded her of the GoM: I really feel like Setsu would be the kind of person who treasured her memories with her friends because they made her happy and all so it'll be hard to forget. The fact that they set the score in Meiko was definitely wrong, but I think a part of her would still want to get the times ****_before_**** the Meiko game back because that was when they were all still friends and all. **

**( 3 ) Tsuna's Intuition regarding Teiko. I want him and the others to help Setsuna deal with what happened in Teiko, to get her to at least ****_talk_**** about it with them because it's just gonna keep bothering her, and I'm trying to see where the anime's events could go if Setsuna had been able to talk about Teiko with non-basketball-related people who were willing to listen.**

**( 4 ) Luca and the masked man. I have ****_plans_**** for those two *insert evil laugh* but those will be more obvious in the Winter Cup.**

**( 5 ) I plan to speed along the fic somewhat since most of the action really should be in Seirin but then I also want time to develop Takeshi and Setsuna's friendship so I'm not sure how many chapters it'll take til I reach Setsu-goes-to-Seirin.**

**Anyways, see you next update!**

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**REPLIES TO REVIEWS**

**i hope i typed your usernames correctly**

**Melany shiro: Thank you so much! That's really nice to hear c:**

**PTD011103: Yup! I'll try my best to keep the updates to at least once every month as much as I can.**


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